The Study and Design of the Quran Cabinet with the Wisdom of Thai Muslim Craftsmanship

Abstract

The objectives of this study are: 1) to study and analyze the wisdom of Thai Muslim craftsmanship and style of Islamic art; 2) to design the Quran cabinet with the wisdom of Thai Muslim craftsmanship with Islamic art; and 3) to evaluate the satisfaction of users to the Quran cabinet. There are 3 groups of informants according to the objectives of this study. The 1st group consists of Muslim philosophers who are experts in Thai handicraft wisdom (3 people) and experts in Islamic art (3 people). The total number of people in this first group is 6 people. Interviews and questionnaires are used to study Thai Muslim handicraft wisdom and style of Islamic art in order to create guidelines for the design. The 2nd group is comprised of experts in furniture design (3 people) and experts in furniture production (3 people). The total number of people in this second group is 6 people. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is used to develop the concept design of Quran cabinet. The 3rd group is comprised of 400 Muslims who live in Bangkok. The statistics which are used in this study use mean (X) and S.D. methods of calculation. From the study, Thai Muslim wisdom has been suggested by Muslim philosophers who are experts in Thai handicraft wisdom and experts in Islamic art to be applied to the design of the Quran cabinet with the wisdom of carpentry and wisdom of Kabah gate of Thai Muslim craftsman. For the analysis of Islamic art, experts of Islamic art suggest applying architecture, arts, crafts, and Islamic Calligraphy for the inspiration and concept for the design. Then, the author selects 3 styles for experts in furniture design and production to choose for the final design. The overall rating from the evaluation is ‘Very High’ (X = 4.1, S.D. = 0.69). The design is used to create a prototype before a survey on the satisfaction of the Quran cabinet prototype was provided to Muslims in Bangkok. From the satisfaction evaluation, the rating is ‘Medium’ (X = 3.90, S.D = 0.70).